It can never be stressed enough. That one word you are probably sick of hearing by now: Reviews. Well, read it again, and again, and yet again, until you are fully convinced that reviews are akin to the Academey Awards.
Reviews, from honest readers, and especially from your fellow authors, should always receive your utmost attention. They will tell you exactly- and sometimes in gruesome, heartbreaking detail, what they thought of your book. At this point, there are two ways you can react to this: tell yourself they don't know what they're talking about, don't they recognize a masterpiece when they see it? Or, you can go running off crying like a little school girl, and refuse to face the reality of your situation. Let me assure you, either of these reactions will be your complete downfall as an author.
Learn to accept both criticism, and advice. If you won't, you are simply dooming yourself to failure, and you might just as well throw out that manuscript you spent months laboring over. I can't imagine why anyone would do that, but hey, it's your tea party.
People don't write reviews just to hurt you, or to have something to rag about. They've spent money on your book, and as a customer, they have a right to voice their satisfaction, or disatisfaction. If you've been careful, and you have a good story- doesn't have to be great, even a good one will do, people will have nothing to complain about. But if you've thrown a story together, slapped a dime store cover on it, and uploaded it... boy, are you going to hear about it, and it would serve you right, if that's what you've done.
Readers are vicious, they will tear you up like a pack of pitbulls. They will chew you up and spit you out into so many pieces your own mother won't recognize you. And those are the nicer ones. The worst part is, readers know readers, and they talk. They can either recommend your book, or warn against it. Absolutely no self-respecting author who has a love for their craft would ever want to be in that postion.
Have pride in your work, but just as important, pour over those reviews- the good, bad, and the really ugly, as if they were a precious treasure being handed to you. Make note of what they say is wrong with your book ( typos, grammar, formatting, etc.) and fix it. That is what will make you a better writer, and certainly one people are much more likely to want to read and recommend.
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Chameleon Author
Nicely put! As a reader I often buy books despite the bad reviews and even sometimes because of them. We all have different taste and if someone writes a "good" bad review that explains what it was they didn't like, sometimes it's exactly the things I like in a book. Or it's enough to make me curious to decide for myself.
ReplyDeleteI usually go for the 5 star reviews and the 1 star reviews when looking for a new book. I want to hear both.
As a writer...it's hard, but the bad can help you grow in your craft. If someone's taken the time to write out what they think about my work, I'm not about to bash them for it.
So bad reviews aren't a death nail. Be an adult and accept the criticism...then write your next book.
Thank you, Gina, and I agree completely. I do look at the reviews of any given book I may be interested in, but a few bad reviews won't necessarily deter me. It depends on what they say - if anything of substance. But it is the reviews overall that tend to determine whether I buy it or not.
DeleteAs an Author, well, I think my blogs say it all. I treasure reviews. They're from my readers, and what they think is important to me. If someone gives me a 2 r 3 star, my first thought is, "I hope they spelled out why the read rated so low for them," and then I read the review very carefully. If they did spell it out, I act on it if there's anything I can do about it. And, as you say, move on to write the next one- and try not to make the same mistakes. :)